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[SenjutsuSage]

I have variable framerate in all my pc games.

Yep, valid point, I think. As long as the game is greater than 30fps on average the large majority of the time, this shouldn't really be that big a deal. You can lock framerate on PC, too, but in a lot of cases it doesn't really matter, and in those instances where you may be more prone to experience performance drops, it might help to possibly already be running at a higher overall framerate. A locked framerate is probably more important for player vs player competitive gameplay, at least that's how I've always seen it. It should be much of an issue in the game's singleplayer.

 

[nib95]

I have variable framerate in all my pc games.

As do I. As long as it's V-synced and triple buffered, this is fine, and should make for a smooth overall experience, and one that is less jarring when moving over to 60fps multiplayer.

 

[RoboPlato]

As do I. As long as it's V-synced and triple buffered, this is fine, and should make for a smooth overall experience, and one that is less jarring when moving over to 60fps multiplayer.

I think the 60fps MP may be part of why they unlocked the SP. It'll be less of a shock going between the two modes.

As I said before, I'm happy with this decision as long as the framerate stays relatively constant and isn't jumping up and down by 20fps or something.

 

[CLEEK]

As do I. As long as it's V-synced and triple buffered, this is fine, and should make for a smooth overall experience, and one that is less jarring when moving over to 60fps multiplayer.

Right, please explain this to me, as I might be an idiot.

Surely is a game has v-sync enabled, it's variable by default? Can't hit 60fps (or 30fps, or whatever) it will drop to the next refresh compatible frame rate and introducing slowdown?

Is that what we're talking about here with Killzone? The game will try to hit 60fps, but it it fails, we'll get slow down? Or will it be like the unlocked framerate in Bioshock, where the frame rate was all over the shop?

 

[xJavonta]

I definitely notice 30 -> 60 fps. Anything over 60 though, no difference for me.

Get a 120hz monitor and you'll see the difference when games run at 120 FPS

 

[Kuro]

Get a 120hz monitor and you'll see the difference when games run at 120 FPS

30 to 60 is a big difference but all 60 to 120 does for me is make motion less blurry

 

[ChawlieTheFair]

So instead of having it look awful occasionally they should make it look awful the whole time?

That's the thing it's never occasionally, it happens often and it ruins the point of having 60 fps. 30 only looks awful if you've seen the game at 60. You can't miss what you haven't played. Point is, 30 fps is fine if it's solid. 60 FPS is great, but if it includes constant dips to 40, i'd rather not have it.

 

[SapientWolf]

That's the thing it's never occasionally, it happens often and it ruins the point of having 60 fps. 30 only looks awful if you've seen the game at 60. You can't miss what you haven't played. Point is, 30 fps is fine if it's solid. 60 FPS is great, but if it includes constant dips to 40, i'd rather not have it.

There's obviously not going to be a consensus on this so the best course of action is to make it an option in the menu. Most people won't care but the ones that do are going to have a strong preference one way or the other.

Also, I've never been able to run vsync without adding some input lag. So maybe that's how Guerrilla solved their problem. The PS3 KZ games had triple digit input lag. 116 for KZ3 and 149 for KZ2. That is completely unacceptable for a competitive online shooter.

 

[nib95]

Right, please explain this to me, as I might be an idiot.

Surely is a game has v-sync enabled, it's variable by default? Can't hit 60fps (or 30fps, or whatever) it will drop to the next refresh compatible frame rate and introducing slowdown?

Is that what we're talking about here with Killzone? The game will try to hit 60fps, but it it fails, we'll get slow down? Or will it be like the unlocked framerate in Bioshock, where the frame rate was all over the shop?

Guessing similar to what InFamous, God of War etc had.

 

[whitehawk]

No, it's not okay. A variable frame-rate is hell, you either lock it at 30 or 60 and keep it there. With a variable you get this weird juddering when it goes up and down, plus increased tearing.

All just opinion. I played Bioshock Infinite on my PS3 with an unlocked frame rate. Every time I went and locked it to 30fps, I immediately went back to unlocked.

 

[nib95]

No, it's not okay. A variable frame-rate is hell, you either lock it at 30 or 60 and keep it there. With a variable you get this weird juddering when it goes up and down, plus increased tearing.

You do realise 99.9% of the console games you've played the last few decades have had variable frame rates right? Very very very few console games are actually locked at 30fps or 60fps.

 

[Timu]

Get a 120hz monitor and you'll see the difference when games run at 120 FPS

Agreed, once I overclocked my monitor to 120hz I was stunned at how smooth it was compared to 60hz.

 

[ChawlieTheFair]

You do realise 99.9% of the console games you've played the last few decades have had variable frame rates right? Very very very few console games are actually locked at 30fps or 60fps.

But were they unlocked by design or was it because of performance problems that caused differences in the frame rate? I'm assuming it's the latter.

 

[nib95]

But were they unlocked by design or was it because of performance problems that caused differences in the frame rate? I'm assuming it's the latter.

The latter obviously. But the two are one and the same. Rather than downgrade the visuals and have an absolutely locked (unflinching) 30fps or 60fps, most devs/games just choose to have it unlocked and as such have a somewhat variable frame rate instead.

No different here. Only instead of the game running at 25fps-30fps like most shooters have this gen, it will be running at 35-40fps (according to GG). It's still an upgrade compared to the norm.

 

[Sethos]

You do realise 99.9% of the console games you've played the last few decades have had variable frame rates right? Very very very few console games are actually locked at 30fps or 60fps.

Yeah, tell me something I don't know will ya' ? There's a reason why I'm a predominant PC player and that is one of the top reasons. However as some might have noticed, we're moving into a new generation and it seems they now have to power to get almost-60 but decide to have the same shit problem of the old games just at a higher frame-rate. Then allow the game to be locked at 30 and it'll never dip below 30 either with that much overhead, woo! I would take locked 30 over 55-60 fluctuations.

 

[Thrakier]

You do realise 99.9% of the console games you've played the last few decades have had variable frame rates right? Very very very few console games are actually locked at 30fps or 60fps.

That's only true if you considering the games which drops frames as "unlocked" - I'd rather say that is slowdon. A game which runs at 30 90% of the time is still more consistent then a game which runs with a variable framerate ALL the time. How some of you people perceive constant framerate jumping between 30 and 50 as smooth is beyond me, but I definitly do not have such sort of magic super brain. I perceive it as judder and it's shit.

 

[Chumpion]

I don't like this either. Hopefully it doesn't become a trend. Devs should use dynamic resolution instead to maintain a stable frame rate.

 

[Mr. PlayStation]

Just wanted to share this video that I created, comparing the Feb reveal with content shown in the story trailer aka final build http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7DvPjmEdE

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

You do realise 99.9% of the console games you've played the last few decades have had variable frame rates right? Very very very few console games are actually locked at 30fps or 60fps.

Haven't played KZ:SF myself, but surely there's a difference between a game that fluctuates between 25-30fps, and one that can fluctuate between 30 and 60 fps.

 

[Vitor711]

Haven't played KZ:SF myself, but surely there's a difference between a game that fluctuates between 25-30fps, and one that can fluctuate between 30 and 60 fps.

I'm playing Batman: AO at a variable framerate right now. Honestly, anything from 45-60 isn't that big a deal. Noticeable, vaguely, but I don't feel any less in control.

The shifts from 45-35 though are weirdly jarring. You adjust quickly but it does occasionally cause headaches. As long as the game stays within a 10 frame or so window of difference (barring setpiece moments when you don't have direct control), then I'd say it will be fine. Going from 50 to 40 though will still feel better than 40 to 30 which is weird but that's how I've felt about it recently.